Abstract
The article reviews the two-dimensional Coulomb gas model and its connection to vortex fluctuations for a two-dimensional superfluid. The neutral and non-neutral versions of the Coulomb gas are discussed and the relation to an equivalent sine-Gordon field theory is given. The charge-unbinding picture is used to elucidate some essential properties of the Coulomb gas. Derivations of approximate renormalization equations are sketched and the phase transition for the neutral two-dimensional Coulomb gas is described. The Kosterlitz renormalization-group equations are reviewed in some detail. The vortex-Coulomb gas charge analogy is carefully explained. The connections between experiments for $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ films and superconducting films and the neutral and non-neutral versions of the Coulomb gas are outlined using concepts like the universal jump and the Coulomb gas scaling relations. The properties of a dynamical version of the Coulomb gas, corresponding to vortex dynamics, are discussed and related to experiments. An analogy with Maxwell's equations in two dimensions is also given.
Keywords
PhysicsCoulombSuperfluidityCoulomb's constantCoulomb wave functionVortexSuperconductivityCoulomb's lawCondensed matter physicsQuantum mechanicsCoulomb barrierThermodynamics
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1987
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1001-1066
- Citations
- 987
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Petter Minnhagen
(1987).
The two-dimensional Coulomb gas, vortex unbinding, and superfluid-superconducting films.
Reviews of Modern Physics
, 59
(4)
, 1001-1066.
https://doi.org/10.1103/revmodphys.59.1001
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1103/revmodphys.59.1001